UB Recognized as Bicycle-Friendly Campus

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The League of American Bicyclists has
designated the University at Buffalo as a "Bicycle Friendly
University" at the bronze level, an award presented only to
institutions with a strong commitment to cycling.

The Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) program recognizes
institutions of higher education for promoting and providing a more
bicycle-friendly campus for students, faculty, staff and visitors.
The BFU program also provides the schools with technical assistance
to create great campuses for cycling.

To receive the "bicycle-friendly" designation, colleges and
universities are judged in five categories often referred to as the
five "Es" of BFU: engineering, education, encouragement,
enforcement, and evaluation and planning. A college or university
must demonstrate achievement in each of the five categories in
order to be considered for a designation at the bronze, silver,
gold or platinum level.

The League of American Bicyclists named nine new and one
renewing Bicycle Friendly Universities this fall for a total of 44
universities in 25 states holding the BFU designation in 2012. UB
joins Cornell University and the Rochester Institute of Technology
as the only schools in New York to receive the award.

"We certainly are pleased that we received the bronze
designation," says Dennis Black, vice president for university life
and services. "There's more we can do to make UB even more
bike-friendly, but this award acknowledges great work done to date
and encourages us to expand our future efforts."

The designation from the League of American Bicyclists is for
four years. UB must renew its status again in 2016, at which time
the university may be eligible for gold or platinum
designation.

While UB's efforts have been ongoing for many years, they began
to come together with the formation of the Bicycling at UB program
in 2007. Through this program, UB faculty and staff campuswide have
come together in an effort to improve the biking experience at
UB.

The program's achievements over the past five years have been
significant: more than 800 bike parking spaces are currently
designated, bike lanes were added to connect Lee Road to the
Ellicott Complex, a bike-share program through GO Bike Buffalo and
Buffalo Car Share was launched, and showers for cyclist were made
available in Greiner Hall and Creekside Village apartments for
riders who want to freshen up after a long commute.

And as improvements continue to be made, the number of cyclists
on campus continues to rise, according to Christopher Austin,
assistant director of parking and transportation services. In 2008,
the number of riders who loaded their bikes onto racks attached to
the UB Stampede buses was 1,133; by 2011 that number had risen to
4,640.

In the near future, Bicycling at UB plans to increase the number
of bike lanes on-campus, add more covered bike parking spaces and
devise ways to link off-campus and on-campus bike facilities.

The program also plans to implement SeeClickFix, a web tool used
to report non-emergency neighborhood issues, into the Bicycling at
UB website for streamlined notifications of cycling-related
concerns.

These improvements complement and build upon UB's efforts for
campus sustainability. Every trip made by bicycle reduces
greenhouse gas emissions; that riders can save on gas and get a
little exercise is an added bonus.